Cryptocurrency boom to stay: What's exciting about 2018 Asian tech scene

What are the possible developments in technology we can look forward to 2018? We asked a few experts from the tech community for their thoughts.

Joel Ko Hyun Sik, president at Marvelstone Group

I am excited about how AI could further develop in 2018. Many AI hubs are coming, as tech giants like Alibaba, Microsoft, Amazon, and Samsung announce AI research labs here and there.

Tim Romero, podcaster at Disrupting Japan

In Japan, AI companies will come out of the shadows in 2018. 

I think the current cryptocurrency and ICO boom will continue for a little longer before exploding in investors’ face.

Antony Ma, founder at PowerData2Go

We’ll see language processing functions become available via APIs. Voice machine interface will play a bigger role. And AI-assisted conversations will change how people communicate, especially in functional conversations.
 

Isabelle Decitre, founder and CEO at ID Capital

I like to think that 2018 will be the year where more countries and more entrepreneurs domesticate agtech and foodtech.

Pradeep Menon, cloud solution architect at Microsoft
 

Internet-of-things (IoT)

Predictive maintenance is a standard use case in this area. However, opportunities linking IoT to consumer behavior is an exciting area for investors.

Blockchain

The underlying technology that enables bitcoin will see adoption.

Walter Lim, director at Cooler Insights

In 2018:

• Video will become more prominent, as Facebook continues to favor videos in their news feed
• Customer journey-focused content is another trend that will rise

Rodney Tay, vice president of digital media solutions at Mediacorp

What I’m excited about in advertising for 2018 are:

• Post-production product placements and interaction that allows brand engagement with native video
• Programmatic out-of-home (OOH) followed by Programmatic TV

---

This is an excerpt from the article published on Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.